He worked with Russia and Republicans to build a web of lies that could incriminate President Joe Biden. Now he’s being rewarded.Alexander Smirnov’s various deceptions about Biden and his family—which included telling the FBI that both Biden and his son Hunter had pocketed millions in bribes from the Ukrainian gas company Burisma—were central to Republican efforts to impeach the former president. Smirnov was the caucus’s star witness. In a plea deal in 2024, Smirnov admitted that he had not only completely fabricated the Biden-Burisma connection but that it was conjured with the assistance of at least four Russian officials.Yet Smirnov vanished mere months into his six-year prison sentence. In early March, it became clear that the Trump administration was helping him sweep the whole ordeal under the rug, despite the deleterious impacts that Smirnov’s lies and Russian collusion had on American politics. On March 4, deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche submitted a bizarre and atypical brief supporting Smirnov’s attempts to throw out his sentence and withdraw his plea, reported Mother Jones Monday. Deputy attorneys general have not historically involved themselves in such matters.In 2025, the DOJ filed a joint motion alongside Smirnov’s attorneys to release him pending appeal. U.S. District Judge Otis Wright tossed the effort in April, but legal experts stressed that the effort could be an early sign that the Trump administration was considering pardoning Smirnov.Smirnov’s appeal hinges on a stipulation related to his plea deal. At the time, the arrangement stated that Smirnov was “entitled” to a credit for time served, though that credit was never determined by a judge, as specified by the plea. Smirnov and his team are now claiming that his entire sentence should be thrown out since Wright did not comply with the specifications of the plea deal, even though the Russian asset was credited for time served by the Bureau of Prisons.Instead, Smirnov’s team has pitched that his legal arrangements should be reset to their status before the FBI plea deal. The Justice Department filing supports this sequence of events.